Tulare Building Permit Value Higher
The value of all building permits in Tulare this year through July, seven months, is $23.4 million compared to all of last year at $28.3 million withe several large projects pending.The jump comes in commercial building permits. Home permits are slower. In 2014 the city issued permits for 203 homes. So far through 7 months the city has issued 86 single-family home permits.
Walnut Crop Looks Good
USDA says the 2015 California walnut production forecast is at a record 575,000 tons, up 1 percent from 2014. Despite a lack of chilling hours and a drought that continued to impact California, the 2015 walnut crop forecast is at a record level. Relatively mild summer temperatures have benefitted the crop. Crop quality is reported to be excellent with low disease and insect pressures. Tulare County has over 40,000 acres of walnuts.
Sequoia Park Visitation Up 10%
Recreational visitation to Sequoia Park was up over 10% in July according to NPS figures.
If US Exports Oil – What Happens to Domestic Gasoline Prices?
With a glut of oil in the US – some in the industry want to export crude.But will the oil companies gain be the consumer’s loss? The US Energy Information Agency says no. “ Petroleum product prices in the United States, including gasoline prices, would be either unchanged or slightly reduced by the removal of current restrictions on crude oil exports. As shown in a previous EIA report, petroleum product prices throughout the United States have a much stronger relationship to North Sea Brent, an international crude oil benchmark price, than to West Texas Intermediate (WTI), a domestic benchmark price.”
Study: Scientists Say GM Foods Safe But Public Says No
A new PEW study points to a big gap between scientists and the public view of genetically modified foods. A majority of the general public (57%) says that genetically modified (GM) foods are generally unsafe to eat, while 37% says such foods are safe; by contrast, 88% of scientists say GM foods are generally safe. The gap between citizens and scientists in seeing GM foods as safe is 51 percentage points. This is the largest opinion difference between the public and scientists.